United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

United Therapeutics Co. (NASDAQ:UTHR) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, a decrease of 14.3% from the December 15th total of 2,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 317,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UTHR has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on United Therapeutics from $415.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $575.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price target on United Therapeutics from $319.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.36.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of UTHR opened at $366.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.57. United Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $208.62 and a twelve month high of $417.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $369.14 and a 200-day moving average of $353.37.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.16 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $748.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.62 million. United Therapeutics had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Therapeutics will post 25.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Therapeutics news, CFO James Edgemond sold 7,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.99, for a total transaction of $2,855,916.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,358,277.74. The trade was a 54.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Benkowitz sold 14,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.46, for a total value of $5,504,562.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,983.42. This represents a 85.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,630 shares of company stock worth $54,371,916 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $82,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of United Therapeutics by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of United Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $90,000. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation, a biotechnology company, engages in the development and commercialization of products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening diseases in the United States and internationally. The company offers Tyvaso DPI, an inhaled dry powder via pre-filled and single-use cartridges; Tyvaso, an inhaled solution via ultrasonic nebulizer; Remodulin (treprostinil) injection to treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to diminish symptoms associated with exercise; Orenitram, a tablet dosage form of treprostinil, to delay disease progression and improve exercise capacity in PAH patients; and Adcirca, an oral PDE-5 inhibitor to enhance the exercise ability in PAH patients.